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Eldora announces deal with Ignite adaptive ski program for 2013-14 season

By Charlie Brennan, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
11/01/2013 01:33:09 PM MDT

Updated:
11/01/2013 07:23:26 PM MDT

Ignite Adaptive Sports participant and board of directors representative Stan Slater, front, cheers with other members of the organization including, from left, Timothy Jones, David Schadle, Paula Galloway and Bill David outside of the Eldora Mountain Resort store in Boulder on Friday after hearing an announcement that Eldora reached an agreement to keep the adaptive program in place. (JEREMY PAPASSO)

Eldora Mountain Resort spokesman Rob Linde announced Friday that an agreement had been reached with Ignite Adaptive Sports to welcome the group back to its winter home of 38 years.

That resolution came just one day after Ignite announced it had lost the lease that had been renewed every season since it began offering ski lessons to the disabled at Eldora in 1975.

Linde would not discuss Friday's agreement in detail, but he said it called for Ignite to operate independently at Eldora and utilize its double-wide mobile home base of operations for free in the 2013-14 ski season, rather than the usual $1 annual rent.

"We've got an agreement," Linde said after more than two hours of negotiations Friday morning. "It took some time to work through it, and we've sort of been going back and forth and trying to come up with terms that work for Ignite, which, of course, is a nonprofit and works for Eldora as a business.

"We have come to some good terms and good resolve for this upcoming season. Most importantly, the adaptive community will still be well served by Eldora and by Ignite."

Word of the agreement came in the midst of a demonstration outside Eldora's 2775 Canyon Blvd. storefront, where about 30 people quickly switched from expressing their dismay at the potential loss of a season for Ignite to voicing a spirit of celebration.

Ignite had already removed its gear from storage at Eldora and is now moving to put it all back in place.

Linde took exception to description of Friday's gathering as a protest.

"I think it was more like some concerned people who wanted to show their support for Ignite," he said. "They gathered here at our store at 28th and Canyon and were able to voice their opinion."

The program and its all-volunteer staff last ski season served more than 200 people, offering them more than 1,000 lessons, according to the group's executive director, Finn Murphy.

On Thursday, Murphy had said that Ignite had no favorable options for a 2013-14 season if its lease dispute with Eldora could not be resolved.

On Friday, Murphy said that Ignite was foiled in its bid to secure another two-year lease.

"They weren't willing to grant that," Murphy said. "But they did grant us 1,000 free tickets for our instructors and students, and season passes for our key instructors. They gave us a total of 1,250 tickets and 98 season passes, which is very generous."

As for winning only a one-year lease, Murphy said, "We are very concerned about it. However, we think that one year will give us the opportunity to repair the relationship, and we hope to be there for another 35 years."

Murphy said he credits a significant outpouring of public support for Ignite for ending an apparent deadlock in its negotiations with Eldora.

"I would like to say we are very grateful to EMR, for them to have reconsidered their position, and that the real winner is the disabled community on the Front Range," Murphy said.

Marie Rotter, of Arvada, whose son has tested on the autism spectrum and benefited from participating in Ignite's program in past years, was among those welcoming Friday's news.

"I'm very happy," said Rotter, formerly of Boulder and a one-time volunteer instructor for Ignite. "It means that a lot of people are going to have affordable access to adaptive snow sports, and that's what we wanted all along. Hopefully, we can move forward with a positive relationship with Eldora and Ignite."

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